Byline Times: Newsletters

Byline Times Presents: The World of Words at WOMAD 2026

Byline Times — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:54:55 GMT

The acclaimed international festival WOMAD – at Neston Park in Wiltshire 24-26 July this summer– is rightly known as an annual hub for extraordinary global music, dance, and food.

But it’s also an independent forum for crucial ideas and debates. The World of Words stage – curated this summer by Byline Times – will bring people into an open conversation with politicians, journalists, academics, activists and authors.

Special guests announced so far include Green Party leader Zack Polanski, Lincoln Project Co-Founder Rick Wilson, and Norwich South MP Clive Lewis.

It comes at a critical juncture.

Democracy is being tested. Artificial intelligence is reshaping our economy, our communication and our minds. Billionaires are buying politics. Algorithms are determining what we see, think and feel. Perhaps worst of all, our media is incapable of facilitating the debates and discussions we desperately need.

At WOMAD, we’ll do what the Westminster political-media bubble will not. We’ll offer in person what Byline Times produces in print: a roadmap to understanding. A pluralistic and facts-based assessment with room for complexity, context, and disagreement.

Join us and have your voice heard in a pivotal dialogue about the future of democracy, the rise of populism, disinformation, political extremism, media power, climate activism, the battle for truth online and so much more.

Plus you get to enjoy a brilliant global music, dance, art and food scene on top.

Our readers get 15% with the unique check-out code: BL15

WOMAD 2026

Our full Line-Up (so far):

ZACK POLANSKI (Green Party leader)
CHRISTOPHER STEELE (Former British intelligence officer)
ROSIE HOLT (Satirist)
HARDEEP MATHARU (Editor-in-Chief, Byline Times)
CLAIRE FARRELL (Extinction Rebellion)
JOHN MITCHINSON (Head of Research on QI, Byline Times columnist)
ADAM BIENKOV (Political Editor, Byline Times)
OTTO ENGLISH (Author and Byline Times columnist)
JOSIAH MORTIMER (Chief Reporter at Byline Times)
PETER JUKES (Co-Founder, Byline Times)
JAMES BLOODWORTH (Special Features Correspondent, Byline Times)
RICK WILSON (Co-Founder, The Lincoln Project)
CLIVE LEWIS (Labour MP for Norwich South)
JAY GRIFFITHS (Author)
SHAMI CHAKRABARTI (Former Minister, barrister, and human rights activist)
SARAH CHURCHWELL (US writer and historian)

Makerfield By-Election: The Politics of Feeling and The Lure of Hope

Byline Times — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 17:22:52 GMT

What kind of real hope can we find in an age of right-wing populism, nostalgic fantasies, and easy answers?

Ten days before the critical by-election in Makerfield – a contested race led by prospective Labour leader Andy Burnham and Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon – we’re sitting down to talk it out in the round at The Cockpit and answer your questions.

Why are so many voters turning away from traditional politics? What emotional needs are populist movements meeting? Is Britain’s political future destined to be shaped by grievance and nostalgia, or is there a more hopeful story waiting to be told?

Come along, grab a drink with us, and get involved.

Panelists:

Neal Lawson is the founder of political pressure group Compass and one of Britain’s leading progressive thinkers. He brings decades of experience analysing Labour politics, democratic renewal, and the challenge of building a politics that offers people genuine hope, agency and belonging. The Guardian once described him as “the most optimistic commentator in western Europe.”
Professor Ben Anderson is a professor at Durham University and co-author of The Politics of Feeling. His work explores the emotional undercurrents shaping contemporary politics, including why populist movements often succeed in creating a sense of purpose, belonging and agency where liberal politics struggles to do so.
Hardeep Matharu is Editor-in-Chief of Byline Times. She has written extensively on the crises facing Britain’s political institutions and the rise of anti-establishment sentiment, bringing a broad perspective on how these forces are reshaping British democracy.
Josiah Mortimer is Chief Reporter at Byline Times. He has reported extensively on communities, local politics and the social pressures driving political realignment across Britain, offering a ground-level view of the forces at work in places like Makerfield.
Adam Bienkov is Political Editor at Byline Times. An experienced journalist with inside knowledge of the lobby, he specialises in the mechanics of party politics, electoral strategy and the shifting dynamics between Labour, Reform UK and the Conservative Party.
Peter Jukes is co-founder of Byline Times and Executive Editor. A journalist, author and campaigner, he has spent years investigating threats to democratic accountability and examining the political and media ecosystems that fuel populist movements.
James Bloodworth is Special Features Correspondent at Byline Times and author of Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain. His reporting on class, work and economic insecurity offers vital insight into the lived experiences that often sit behind political discontent.
Dr Nafeez Ahmed is Head of Investigations at Byline Times. An investigative journalist specialising in systems analysis, political economy and emerging global trends, he brings a deeper perspective on the structural forces driving political instability and social change.

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If today’s right offers an illusory hope, what does an authentic hope look like – and does the left know how to offer it?

What specific emotions is the populist right currently weaponising in Makerfield?

And is Andy Burnham’s model of compassionate, place-based leadership a blueprint for turning back the tide – or a reminder that even popular local figures can’t always single-handedly defeat a national mood?

As always at The Cockpit, this is an open and collaborative conversation in the round. We want you there, armed with your toughest questions, sharpest observations and boldest ideas. The discussion won't end when the panel does – we'll be sticking around afterwards for drinks, debate and conversation at the bar.

Do join us at The Cockpit on 8 June at 19:30.

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Most Newspapers Have Owners. We Have You.

Byline Times — Thu, 21 May 2026 10:11:52 GMT

Britain has scarcely needed independent, reader-funded journalism more than it does today. The press barons continue to amass power and manipulate public debate, while social media forums have had their democratic powers blunted by billionaire enclosure and ensh*ttification.

Someone has to take Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (Tommy Robinson) and his white supremacist movement to task. Someone has to interrogate the shocking and under-scrutinised conduct of Nigel Farage and Reform UK. Someone in the press has to remain an impartial arbiter in a world of partisan news and softball interviews.

Perhaps most importantly, someone has to focus on the structural forces and ideas shaping Britain instead of getting lost in the myopic weekly news cycle. Democracy depends on a healthy information environment – and ours is increasingly polluted by disinformation, clickbait, propaganda, billionaire influence, and outrage-driven algorithms.

From the very beginning, this newspaper was built as a challenge to those forces – Byline Times was set up to prove that a different media is possible.

If you’ve enjoyed the interviews, the analysis, the thought-provoking and independent reporting you see on the Byline Times Substack, sign up for more by subscribing to our exclusive monthly edition.

Right now, Substack readers can get 30% off both digital and print subscriptions with the check-out code: NEWREADER30 – only valid for the next ten days.

No proprietors. No oligarchs. No advertiser pressure. No political deals. Just journalism funded by readers who believe the truth still matters.

Subscribe today – and help keep independent, reader-funded journalism alive.

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Byline Times #86: 'There's Still Time to Stop Your Trump'

Byline Times — Wed, 13 May 2026 15:13:28 GMT

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Until June 1st, new subscriptions are 30% off with coupon code: NEWREADER30

Rick Wilson is conservative to the bone – a former Republican strategist, he’s a card-carrying member of America’s old guard establishment right. He has a chilling sense of where Britain is headed today with the rise of Reform UK – because he’s seen this one before.

In the latest edition of Byline Times (now hitting the printers), The Lincoln Project co-founder and anti-Trump conservative offers an inside look at how democracies crumble. Tacticians of the right like himself, he admits, sought to “ride the tiger” of populism – only to find themselves consumed by it.

His warning in the latest Byline Times is clear: Farage is poised to drag Britain down the very same ‘MAGA’ path unless urgent action is taken.

Wilson’s cautionary tale from across the Atlantic comes in the aftershock of a political earthquake in last week’s local elections. As the tremors continue, this edition also assesses our precarious national footing – with analysis and reporting on Labour’s leadership crisis, Reform UK’s policy chief James Orr, and Britain’s new multi-party political battleground.

And better yet, you’ll get access to exclusive thought-provoking long reads – the sort you’d be hard pressed to find in any other newspaper:

Britain has spent 40 years building the opposite of resilience, Clive Lewis MP writes. A country that doesn’t work for its people cannot defend itself. Lewis argues that beyond the leadership horse race, Andy Burnham’s programme for reform understands acknowledges this truth about resilience.
Byline Times editor-in-chief Hardeep Matharu dives deep into the social structures underlaying ‘MAGA’ conspiracy theories in an interview with documentarian Liz Smith and author Noelle Cook. She explores how trauma, loneliness, and the collapse of trusted institutions drives people to abandon their shared reality.
Meanwhile, Jake Arnott explores what Trump and Achilles surprisingly have in common. He reads The Iliad as a 3,000-year-old psychodrama of toxic masculinity – and finds that the only thing more eternal than imperial folly is the fragile male ego that drives it.
Acclaimed playwright David Edgar reflects on the enduring relevance of his seminal political play Destiny, about neo-fascism in Britain – recently revived on stage in a special performance this month produced by Byline Times.
And James Bloodworth explores the future of Hungary’s embattled democracy in the wake of the recently ousted Orbán government – a state in which democracy has not been destroyed entirely, but rather enfeebled and hollowed out from within.

Don’t miss an urgent edition packed with premium exclusive content – culture, analysis, investigations and reporting you truly won’t find anywhere else. Always independent. Always outside of the system. Forever free from fear or favour.

If you’re not already enjoying Byline Times’ exclusive print edition, now is a great time to get on board. We’re offering 30% off for new subscribers until June 1st.

Just use the coupon code: NEWREADER30 (and feel free to share it widely!)

Byline Times' Print / Digital Edition

Crossing the Political Divide w/ Clive Lewis MP

Byline Times — Tue, 05 May 2026 12:23:03 GMT

On May 11th at The Cockpit, two people will walk on stage believing in irreconcilable versions of reality. Their perspectives are diametrically opposed – and only one of them can possibly be right. Or so they may both believe.

The first is Clive Lewis – the backbench Labour MP for Norwich South, whose politics are shaped by climate breakdown, racial justice, identity, and democracy. A defender of multiculturalism and a critic of Britain’s imperial past – and the systems he believes still echo it.

But where Lewis sees a country that must confront its past and radically reshape its future, his childhood friend Darren sees one that has already changed too much – and not for the better. He believes the country’s identity is being diluted by immigration, and that change has come too fast, too imposed, and too often at the expense of people like him.

We’re told that people like this can’t possibly see eye-to-eye. That divides this deep just can’t be bridged.

So what actually happens when they sit down face to face?

The Lure of Opposition, the latest instalment of our Out of the Comfort Zone series at The Cockpit, aims to find out. Join us on May 11th at 19:30.

Join Us at The Cockpit

Later in the evening, Otto English shares a more intimate story: a friendship fractured by the Brexit divide – one that was never repaired before it was too late. A reminder of how deeply political rupture can reach into our closest relationships.

We’ll also hear from director Liz Smith on her documentary The Conspiracists, exploring the pull of conspiratorial thinking in an age of polarisation.

The audience – you – will be encouraged to participate and engage in all of the night’s featured discussions.

At Byline Times, we believe different kinds of conversation are still possible – even now. That when we meet as people, not as labels or opposing tribes, something unexpected and serendipitous can emerge.

In a landscape of echo chambers and performative debate, this is something different. We hope you can make it.

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Conservative commentator Albie Amankona (left) and Byline Times’ Nafeez Ahmed (centre) engage in a robust political debate at The Lure of Social Media at the Cockpit Theatre. Chaired by Hardeep Matharu (right).

What reviewers say about our ‘Out of the Comfort Zone’ events:

“I’ve been attending Byline Times events at The Cockpit regularly, and it’s become my absolute favourite spot in London for meaningful discussions. Journalists from Byline Times dive into everything from media ethics to global politics, opening up topics that you won’t find in mainstream news. The atmosphere is intimate and electric – perfect for sparking ideas and connecting with like-minded people.”

Doom and Dust – Trump's War on the World

Byline Times — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 18:42:39 GMT

Donald Trump’s war on Iran, waged in tandem with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, is escalating across the Middle East. Our political-media class, true to form, is abstracting it – distorting and hiding its raw, human toll.

War coverage often arrives mediated. Pre-packaged. You’ll see it in the jingoism of commentators – those who frame opposition to war as support for the Iranian regime or as antipathy for the military. In politicians’ TikTok reels of fighter jets taking off, scored by rock-and-roll tracks. In the rolling-news panels that turn war into a tactical chessboard.

But in this edition, Byline Times refuses to look away. Iranian exile Kamin Mohammedi provides a visceral account of the devastating bombing of her home – and the humanitarian crisis likely to follow if the war continues. She describes what she calls the BBC’s “empathy-washing”: how discussion of the conflict was redirected towards her feelings and identity as a British-Iranian, sidestepping her attempts to raise the factual realities on the ground – and the illegality of the war itself.

Our journalists dive into the architecture of power that constructs, justifies, and profits from conflict, as well as the political and media systems that make this war legible – even palatable – to a distant and insulated audience. We refuse to shy away from either the individual human suffering or the crucial systemic analysis – both so lacking in the myopic mainstream media lens.

This edition also marks Byline Times’ seventh birthday – and our core mission remains crystal clear: to probe the structures of power behind the headlines and to dismantle the monopoly media spectacle, piece by piece.

We’re acutely aware of the news fatigue epidemic – that this relentless torrent of existential global events is numbing and apathy-inducing. But that temptation, that drift towards disengagement, is itself a feature of the media game we refuse to play.

Independent journalism exists to resist – to slow down the frame, follow the evidence, and insist that the human reality behind the war is not erased.That the powerful actors and systems at play aren’t veiled.

It’s why we’re continuing to grow – and why the independent may be on its way to breaking into the mainstream.

Not subscribed to Byline Times? Get the new edition by signing up to our news magazine before midnight tonight.

Exclusive Content in Edition #84:

Doom and Dust:

The Inhumane Cost of Spectacle: Iran Under Bombs – Exiled Iranian writer Kamin Mohammedi reflects on the realities of another illegal war waged on innocent people, and what it will mean for her country.
A Letter from America – Trump’s War with the World: Columnist Rick Wilson analyses the plummeting unpopularity of Trump’s war on Iran – a “conflict without allies or strategy.”
Palantir’s Interest in the War Against Iran – Head of Investigations Nafeez Ahmed shows how the data analytics firm, now profiting handily from Trump’s military adventurism, played a role in constructing its justifications.
The Spectacle of War in the Age of AI – Iain Overton asks whether war has become just another form of content: spectacular, shareable, and stripped of its human cost.
The Economics of Trump’s New World Order – Simon Nixon writes that the war is another wake-up call for Britain and the EU to build autonomy from the United States.
‘Smells Like Victory’: Trump’s Iconography of Destruction – Peter Jukes examines how Trump finds meaning and strength in chaos, but how much longer can he avoid reaping the whirlwind of ‘American Carnage?’

Gorton and Denton Goes Green:

As Another Brick is Laid in the Green Wall, A New ‘Silent Majority’ Emerges – Adam Bienkov explores Hannah Spencer’s win as an indicator that voters are “thinking seriously” about who is best poised to take on Nigel Farage.
Reform Attacks Byline Times For ‘Attempting to Derail a Democratic Election’ – Before Blaming ‘Family Voting’ and ‘Muslim Sectarianism’ for Their By-Election Defeat – Hardeep Matharu, Nafeez Ahmed, and Peter Jukes report on the rise of Trump-style media-bashing and election-denial tactics in Britain.

Special Feature:

The Billionaire, the Bible, and the Battle for Britain – James Bloodworth profiles media baron Sir Paul Marshall with a specific eye on his ties to the rise of a new “elite evangelical nationalism.”

And Our Regular Columnists:

Peter Oborne’s Diary
Caroline Lucas – That’s True, Too
Otto English – On the Record
Anthony Barnett – Notes on Now
Tim Walker – Mandrake
John Mitchinson – Zeitgeisters / The Upside Down

All of that and much more… subscribe to Byline Times’ news magazine by midnight tonight and get the April 2026 delivered to your door, or peruse it in our bespoke digital viewer.

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